The Two Faces Of Phoebe
by Wicked R
Summary: beginning of season 7. Old Phoebe comes back from the future.
1. Default Chapter

Title: The Two Faces Of Phoebe

Author: Wicked R

Disclaimers: the universe and characters are the property of the WB. I'm using them for fun only.

Rating: PG.

Genre: Angst

Summary/Set: beginning of season 7. Old Phoebe comes back from the future.

Pairing: Cole/Phoebe

Phoebe was up in the attic tidying up. With statistically 1.12 demons being fought in their house every day, as Chris recited from the tourist guide for the museum their house will turn into in the future, the place always looked like a crime scene. She turned the table back up when she heard a little bang, just like when a potion explodes.

"So you wanna know how do you turn into a bitter old lady like me?"

Phoebe recognised her own old self, the one she once conjured from the future to help her decide whether she should marry Cole, "as if you give good advice! How'd you get here? I didn't cast a spell, I believe."

"No, but I did. I came back because I don't want you to make the same mistakes I made."

"What mistakes?"

"About Cole."

"I think you came back the wrong year. Cole is dead."

"No he isn't. You think Paige vanquished him in a alternate reality? It doesn't work like that. An alternate reality is just that, an alternate reality. No, he left, because he understood that you would not give in. But in two month from now, you'll get a message from a coroner in Chicago to go and identify your ex husband's body. The cause of death will be alcohol poisoning. He will die alone, in a run down alley. And he will die human. You'll find out he gradually lost the powers he picked up in the waste land. But after all the rejection he got from you, he never came back to try his luck when he became human once more…" The old Phoebe's image started fading.

"What are you doing? How do I find him?"

"You will," old Phoebe smiled, "the spell for bringing me back was meant to play itself out when I manage to convince you to help him…" she disappeared the way she came.

The End.


	2. Detected

Chapter 2

"He's very sick, Phoebe," Leo reported back in a couple of hours time after Phoebe sent him to check on Cole. At first, they tried to use a demon locator spell just to verify the allegations of old Phoebe, but they could only find him with the lost love spell. Phoebe was too wary of the situation still to go herself, so she sent the Elder. In this way, Leo could also stay undetected by Cole until they decided what to do about him. Leo continued his account, "I found him at hospital. He's human, but he seems to be drinking as if he still had his demon constitution. He was just released after being treated for some bleeding of the stomach lining, very common with alcoholics…honestly, I can hardly believe he's supposed to turn up dead in two month time and not tomorrow. After such a complication, it's very dangerous to drink again right away, but alcoholics always do and there's not much people could do to stop it from happening over and over again. And I can't heal damages caused by alcohol. It wouldn't be a fair thing to do, so we weren't given the capacity to heal self harm…"

"Then I will just have to go right now to try to convince him not to drink, don't I?"

"Phoebe, are you sure about this? If not for anything else, but because you can't play with him again. Give him hope, take it back, give him hope, take it back, this is what ended him in this situation in the first place. He was only holding on to his humanity while you helped, closely supported him. He will probably be able to, on his own, in time, but there's no going back if you see him now. You either go into this relationship or you don't. At all. He loves you and it is you he wants from life. If you can't give him that, you shouldn't try."

"Don't worry, Leo, I won't mess it up again."

"But why? Why now?"

"Because later it will be too late? You said yourself, you can't heal him if he has already drunk himself to half death. And because I don't wanna be like my possible old self that came back to warn me. And…because he's different, he's completely human. He's an innocent. We help innocents, right?"

"Okay Phoebe, but what if he gets powers again somehow? Will you just reject him at first sight again?"

"I used to love him with powers, didn't I? Besides, when I rejected him, that was long ago, Leo. I've learnt a few things since then, here and there."

"Such as?"

"Prejudices, power struggles, the difference about what makes somebody good or evil, emotions…" She finally mentioned the main point, yes, she'd learnt quite a lot because of her empathic ability. Maybe the Elders gave that power to her on purpose, so she does learn all those things, "…orb me please."

tbc


	3. Poisoned

Chapter 3

Cole heard the sound of a white lighter chinking in the background, but it didn't really register in his mind. It could've been a demon for all he cared. Thinking idly, he didn't fully become aware of Leo and Phoebe's arrival in his dump, the tiny one room apartment he could afford. The small law firm he originally got a job at in Chicago got rid of him by now and he couldn't blame them. His alcoholic breath sometimes overwhelmed even the judge at court. The big wages he once got from Jackman, Carter and Kline still paid for the rent, well, for now, but he couldn't care less. The illusion of a life he tried to set up away from Phoebe proved to be just that, a delusion of his drunken mind. He didn't come to himself until the heard another chinking sound when Leo left, leaving Phoebe alone with him. He looked up and dropped the bottle in shock. It landed on the squashy, muddy carpet without breaking, where it seemed to be rolling away to an impractical distance from him. He looked at it for a long moment as it stopped by the table leg.

"Cole?" He heard his own name, the way only one person in the world used to say it. With so much love. Hey, he must be imagining it again. He looked up at her, she was still there, making a tentative step towards him, "what are you doing? What's wrong? Are you okay? I mean I know you're not, but are you feeling well?"

"What is this, some kind of game?" Cole was looking away, not sure of the strange phenomenon in from of him.

"Leo told me you were very ill, but this wasn't what I was expecting."

"Oh, I never am, up to your expectations, am I? Why does that surprise you?" He replied indignantly, pursing his lips, "so what? You're spying on me now?"

"Not more than you had done with me in the past," she watched Cole get up from his chair, swaying for a moment, "look, you need professional help. Let me…"

Cole picked up the bottle and threw it with rage onto the wall. This time, it shattered into pieces. But then, why did it matter? Phoebe was never coming back to him and he was under the influence. Drunks do foolish things, "professional help!" He giggled drunkenly, "oh yeah, the three point recovery system! Point one, accept others, even if they kicked you in the ass when you would've done anything for them, point two," he raved on, "accept the past! Accept that you have killed hundreds of people and demons, including your own brothers, accept that the love of your life killed you and never forgave you for something you haven't done! Point three, accept yourself! Yourself, that nobody seems to want to love or spend time with! Which point do you suggest I start with?"

"Me. Start with me."

"Anything different about you I don't know of? Or you're still the one that throws the most sacred human feeling I ever had in my face?" He picked up a bag from the table and took out another bottle of whiskey from it.

"Come on, you can't like hangovers," Phoebe tried quietly.

Cole looked at her as if she had two heads. But than again, his vision told him she did, "I don't have hangovers. I drink before that can happen," he said with an incredulous tone, as if what he had said was the most straight forward thing on the planet and Phoebe was weird for not knowing it, then unscrewed his bottle and took a long, unhealthy sip of the alcoholic liquid, "what the hell…?" He reacted to Phoebe interrupting his drinking and taking the bottle out of his hand, "you don't tell me what…" He started, but stopped short when Phoebe, instead of emptying his bottle into the sink, lifted it to her own lips and took a sip herself.

"Self defence," she explained, "so I don't feel your breath as much when I do this," she knocked him back onto his chair easily and sat on him, "let me show you what I mean."

Cole wanted to defend himself, push her away, stand up, say something, but he was too drunk, too foggy and too surprised to do anything else than find himself kissing her savagely, frantically, indifferently to what will come, savouring the moment. Gradually, the intense and lustful kisses turned to soft and slow, until all they did was stare into each other's eyes, lost.

Phoebe felt that moment being so special, as his eyes riveted on her and there was a look of genuine and complete happiness graced on his face. She knew she wouldn't be able to convince him right away of a better future, but she had a chance.

The Happy End.


	4. Dual Carriageway

Chapter 4: Dual Carriageway

Cole looked up at the façade of the manor nervously. This was the spot where all the highs and lows of his life took place. This is were he was the happiest, and this was where Phoebe told him she didn't feel anything for him anymore. She claimed now that it was a lie back then to drive him away, but it still hurt the same way.

"Come on," Phoebe took his hand, leading him up the stairs, "they will be okay with you. Piper was always telling me I was too hard on you and Leo is looking forward to seeing an old friend."

"What about Paige?"

"You don't worry about Paige. She can be difficult, but ultimately she has white lighter blood in her. She likes to help the helpless."

"I'm helpless. Now that's comforting."

"It's better than nothing," she opened the front door and pulled Cole through it.

Paige was taking her cardigan off the hook and put it on, "oh, you arrived. Alas, I'm late from magic school, sorry," she orbed out.

"She adores me, really," Cole took a deep breath.

"She just doesn't know what to say," she picked up little Wyatt who ran happily towards her, delighted to see somebody that will maybe play with him.

"Hiya, little guy," Cole smiled at him, "got you something," he took out a toy Ferrari out of his pocket and gave it to him.

"What do you say?" Piper appeared from the kitchen, "he can say tha. Stands for thank you," he took the boy away from Phoebe, "how you doing, Cole?"

"Okay I guess," he shrugged, "how about you?"

"Did Phoebe not give you an update?"

"I know that Wyatt has a brother. Not much else."

"Yeah, Christopher, he's still sleeping. He likes being up half the night, so…"

"Hi, mate!" Leo walked in pretending to be cheerful, hugging his old trouble maker buddy.

"Would you like some breakfast you two?" Piper tried in her best manner, trying to make Cole feel as if he had never left.

"I need to go to work, but maybe…a little," Phoebe changed her mind, thinking that Cole would need something in his stomach and would find it uncomfortable to just go ahead and eat in that place just yet.

"I believe these are not only Leo's favourite pancakes," Piper put a plate in front of him.

They were so nice to him, as if he would've landed three years back in the past. In spite of everything, he couldn't help but clutch the arms of his chair uneasily to calm his shaking hands. He had to get it together. Go back to the time he first became human and was trying to find a way to fit in. He never had the time. But he had to find it this time, because if he didn't Phoebe and him were over. Hell, he was over. But that was actually the same thing. He closed his eyes solemnly and breathed deeply again. Right, first he had to stop being a pest in Phoebe's life. He grabbed one croissant, standing up, "Phoebe, you need to go. Go," he insisted, "really, I'll be…fine. I'll just go up your room and rest," out the way was better than under the scrutiny of the family.

"You're sure?" Phoebe asked.

He nodded, "yeah," kissed her lightly on the cheek and picked up his handbag to take upstairs.

Phoebe looked worriedly after him and he gave her a faint smile before he disappeared out of view.

"He'll be ok," Leo tried to assured her, "he was drinking because of not having you. Now there's no psychological cause for him to continue. Once the physiological withdrawal symptoms cease…"

"Tell me the symptoms," Phoebe interrupted.

"There's typically hand shaking and sickness to start with. These begin from six to forty eight hours after the last drink."

"Yes, he already had that."

"They precede fever, sweating, anxiety, headaches, depressed moods and irritability. This can take three to five days to recover from. But I didn't tell you I went back to check his medical records. He went though detox at the hospital. He only got drunk once since, so it shouldn't be all that bad this time round. He will be fine, I'm sure. I've seen this with some of my changes. When their life got to have meaning, alcohol was no longer necessary for comfort…Wyatt, what are you doing? Don't waste the carpet!" He ran out into the sun room.

"That a rosy cloud scenario," Phoebe told Piper, "I'm actually afraid that it wasn't just me causing his despair. I don't know how he can survive as a human. Having no powers, that made him unstable the last time."

"There's only one answer to that Phoebe," Piper encouraged her, "we must be more focused on what happens with him. Same way I have to pay more attention to Leo. Great, isn't it? Now we have two men in the house that are instable."

"Oh, yes, sorry Piper, I would really ask how he is doing as well, but I'll be really late from work. Can I borrow him for a few minutes so he can orb me? And can I ask you stay here in case Cole needs something? I don't want him to be alone…I'll finish up quickly, I'll be back as soon as I can, " she explained nervously as she left the kitchen to look for Leo.

tbc


	5. Drag

Chapter 5: Drag

Cole slowly came down the stairs with a throbbing headache. He looked at his surroundings, realizing where he was. It took him a few seconds to remember how got there.

"Hey, you're up and about…" Piper addressed him as Cole continued to look around in puzzlement, "what? Are you okay?" She asked apprehensively.

"Phoebe?" Cole whispered since that seemed like the only plausible idea he could think of.

"She's at work. But I can call her if…"

"No… give me a second okay?"

"Cole, what's wrong?" She asked when she saw that her ex brother in law looking even more confused, holding his head in his hands for a moment.

"Nothing," Cole lied feebly, "I'm just out of it."

"Does your head hurt? I'll get you some ibuprofen. They're easy on the stomach."

"Thanks," Cole managed to respond weakly when she shoved them in his hand. He took them and sunk against the couch. It must've been light years later that he heard Leo orbing in.

"Hi, how are you hanging in there?" Leo sat down next to him smiling

supportively. Cole didn't see the smile, turning his head away and groaning weakly, which Leo took as a sign of conducting a small medical examination on him, just as much as he could without any equipment. Having been quite satisfied with the results, he offered, "I would be happier if we could do some blood tests, but I guess it's not absolutely necessary right now. How about some tranquillisers? They knock you out until the worst is over."

"Look, I'm really touched by the kindness of the family, but frankly, I don't understand it. Since when do I deserve all this?"

"Nobody's an angel, Cole. Not even me. I think we all have learnt that by now."

"Why what have you done? Cursed in front of the children?"

"I've killed two elders."

"You killed two elders?" Cole straightened up, suddenly very interested.

"Not so loud please. They still don't know about one of them up there."

"Interesting."

"You could say that."

"Why?"

"Because I was upset for Barbas killing my son from the future and my powers got out of hand, if that sounds any familiar to you. Now you can understand why we are all sympathetic towards you."

"Wait a minute. Barbas? He's out again?"

"I've trying to hunt him down in the underworld several times. I only proved I can't fight him successfully. But I got a few scalps in the way…"

"Demon hunting, huh?"

"At least it breaks the tension for a while."

"Tell me about it…how about…we deal with the tension right now?"

"You're not suggesting…no, the sisters will kill us if I orb you underground."

"So, what new?"

"New is you're trying to stand up to Phoebe's expectations, right?"

"Not as her lapdog. Come on Leo, I need this. I need the adrenaline rush to get through this. Need it to feel alive, to know that I'm still worth something. They don't have to know. Tell them you took me to the park or something."

"Well, show me you can sprint up and down the stairs without getting your blood pressure to a hazardous level and I'll think about it," Leo suggested, himself running more on adrenaline than good sense lately…

tbc


	6. Found And Lost

Chapter 6: Found and Lost

Chances were, they were going to bump into demons right away. Upon seeing two of them chatting from around a corner, Leo orbed Cole right in front of one of them as he only had the chance of fighting it if he was too close for fire ball range. Then, the white lighter started with his lightnings towards the other one.

Cole looked straight into the demon's red eyes and launched himself forward with full force. He stretched out a leg, delivering a kick to the demon's midsection that landed it on its back with a thud, further away. Too far away. Now he had to dodge back and forth, away from the fireballs. He hid behind a rock, but as he touched it, it started rolling. It occurred to him that even with his cover gone, he could still try to direct the path of the rock. As the demon jumped out the way, he jumped after it, threw in quite a few punches, each forcing the demon back towards the wall and away from anywhere it could hide from Leo's lightings. Cole ducked when Leo finished off the first demon, giving him way to vanquish the other one, "well, your back and forth energy ball-lighting fight was interesting, but mine was better," he clenched his aching fist with his other hand, wondering how exactly it was that it wasn't broken.

"You okay?" Leo checked.

Cole stretched, his joints popping audibly and he felt his battered muscles starting to twinge, "all I need is a bath, two weeks of kip, and a blood transfusion. Preferably demonic," he admitted, "then I'll be good as gold again," but he was encouraged by their success, "as fun as it has been, you want the real thing, Barbas, don't you? I know what Barbas is really afraid of."

"Is that going to help us?"

"After I got my powers back from him, for a few minutes, there was so much more. His thoughts and his fears. His greatest fear is that somebody will use a spell on him. And I know that spell, his own fears echoed it. It's a spell that will be his end by his own methods."

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

"All fears are yours,  
you're powers are mine.  
Let the quintessence cross the line.  
Offer up this key to share,  
Switch the extract through the air," Leo and Cole chanted together, louder and louder.

"What now?" Leo stepped out in front of Barbas, not caring he could have been in his line of fire without protection.

Barbas, instantly terrified by all the fears he ever caused to anybody, fell to his knees, screaming.

"We wait," Cole stepped out as well, "there isn't anything that we should do. He will be killed by the same fears he once caused."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"But, hey, why are you so absolutely sure? Why am I so absolutely sure? Shouldn't we have a back up plan or something rather than stand right here in the heart of the underworld unprotected?" Leo said while Barbas continued writhing on the floor.

"I guess we should, but…I feel no fear for anything."

"It's the spell. He has all the fears, while we have none."

They placidly watched as the form of the demon of fear started to fade in front of them, his screams vanishing with him.

"He's gone. For good," Leo concluded.

"Unfortunately," Cole groaned, "so is our fearlessness. We got them back after vanquishing. Right now, I fear what Phoebe will say because of me not being there where she left me…" He thought of her room.

"You just shimmered," Leo stated matter of factly after he followed Cole back to Phoebe's room.

"I guess I did," Cole established calmly, "but how is that possible?"

"Maybe it's something to do with Barbas. You exchanged powers before, so there could be a mix up."

Cole threw an energy ball at the wall, knocking down a shelf full of books and making a large scorch mark on the new wallpaper, "upps. Can't be anything to do with Barbas. He didn't ever possess the use of fire balls, apart from when he stole it from me."

"Upps would be the word. Don't worry about it. I'll heal the wall, before somebody comes in," he started towards the it, laughing and relieved, embracing Cole playfully on his way to the damaged place.

"What was that?" Phoebe rushed in, looking bamboozled at the site before her.

tbc


	7. Cross

Chapter 7: Cross

"How could they go out alone?" Phoebe fumed as she walked down the stairs behind her older sister, who wasn't exactly calm about the situation either.

"Main thing is, they got Barbas, and most importantly they are safe and sound," Piper tried to settle down, "Leo got his revenge and maybe, just maybe he will be home more often now and everything will be normal for a while."

"But they went behind our backs Piper!"

"I can't say that doesn't bother me Phoebe, but I'm trying to be supportive of my husband here! Can't do it if you constantly remind me why I should be angry with him."

"It was like cloak and dagger. Who knows what happens next."

"Do you ever change the record, Phoebe? Is that what really bothers you?"

"Yes…no…okay, what really bothers me is that it looks like Cole has a death wish and he wants to give me a heart attack in the process, " she raged.

"So mainly, you were worried about Cole."

"Oh, Piper, that's not the point."

"It's exactly the point. Point is that you love him and if you do, you stay supportive of him. If he makes a mistake, you stand by him. You can only hope he doesn't make the same mistake again. That's all you can do in a relationship. All anybody can do. I leant that from Leo, and unfortunately I have to use the same measures nowadays…support entails honouring and validating who the other person is and that means allowing for character flaws."

"So what do you think I should do?"

"Well, there's still the issue of drinking. When you really think he's over that, then you can maybe tackle things you're not happy with. At the same time, there's the issue of his coming and going powers…"

"I managed to get her mad again," Cole sat down on Phoebe's bed, head in his hands again.

"You've got a talent there," Leo agreed, holding his hand above the damaged wallpaper to sort it.

"She'll reject me again if I don't get rid of my powers. If only I knew how I got them back."

"I have an idea," he orbed away, having fixed the wall, leaving Cole to anxiously pace up and down in the small room. With the return of his powers, all remains of his withdrawal symptoms were gone, but he was very apprehensive about the developments. Nervous, he searched the room for alcohol. Course, there was none. If there was any in the house, it had to be in the kitchen or the basement. He could have shimmered down, but Leo could have been back in the meantime. Not to mention that if he drank, Phoebe was more likely to be upset with him. He was a caged animal, that's what he was. When he started sweating and panting, he finally remembered that he should try to calm himself down. He would not find the solution hot headed. He sat back down, closed his eyes and put some effort in making his mind similar to an empty blackboard.

That was how Leo found him, "I went back to the hospital where they stored the blood sample they got from you and I put it under a microscope. Well, I'm here to inform you that there were traces of demonic blood in the sample, even when the time you thought yourself fully human. Everybody thought you fully human, the lab couldn't detect such low levels of alien blood. You never lost your powers, Cole."

"I can assure you I lost them."

"More like you were not aware that they still existed. Now what is the difference between your previous state and your current? Chemically I mean."

"I'm not drinking?"

"Exactly. I think some of your powers will be back in time."

"But I don't understand. Demons can drink fine, alcohol doesn't have much effect on them."

"Yeah, but I never heard of an alcoholic demon."

"Well, as I said, alcohol has not enough effect on demons to be bothered with."

"But it did on you. With you being half human, I guess everything is different. It diminished your demonic powers, that's what it did. I have no other explanations. By the way, explanations. I think Piper cooled down by now, it's time I went and played humble…I suggest you do the same…"

Cole continued to anxiously wait in the room. He didn't have the guts to go out and face Phoebe, but shimmering away and leaving the whole thing lying was not an option. He needed to sort things out between them there and then, make her understand some way that he couldn't live without his powers, the same way as he couldn't live without her. Both things were killing him. He worked on his speech when she walked in slowly, and gave a sigh of relief to see him still there, after the dispute they all had.

"Leo told me about you powers," she started.

"And how do you feel about that?"

Phoebe didn't respond, primarily because she didn't know how to. She was in disarray about the meaning of good and evil, and she wasn't sure how would she survive herself it she had to let him go.

"Phoebe?" Cole asked apprehensively, fearing the worst.

"Oh, sorry. Well I'm not sure how I feel."

"Phoebe, you scare me. I…"

"Shh…" She stepped forward, her finger smoothly touching his lips, "just hold me," she whispered. He had, waiting for what came out of this, and she nestled into him, unmoving for as long as a minute. She looked up at him, the tall and strong man looked remarkably like a little boy as he waited for her conclusion. She knew that it was her that gave him strength to fight and believe. She signified harmony to him, a place for him to rest his weary soul. It was a great responsibility, "I love you," she pledged.

"Do you really?" He mumbled, confused.

"Mmm," she assured him, her fingers adventuring between two of his shirt buttons. His abdominal muscles were so inviting, "how's your stomach?" She remembered.

"Fine, I don't feel a thing anymore. You know, demonic constitution…"

"I know, but I worry about you," she stated.

"Thanks for that, and thank you that you're not mad."

"I have one question though. Are you sure you stopped drinking?"

"Yes."

"But how can you be sure?"

"Because of you. I'm scared. I'm scared out my wits that I will loose you if I drink. To be honest…I don't trust you to stand by me if I make any more mistakes," he admitted.

"What a flattering reason," she shook her head. Yes, Cole was definitely obsessed with her, everything was connected to her. She knew what she had to do to make it all better. Show him the world, show him life as it was. All the other purposes and meanings of human existence, all the happiness that came from everyday life. With and without her in it. But she couldn't achieve all that today. What she could do was pull him down the bed and respond to his tender and loving touch…

The End.


End file.
